People Management & Three Worlds of Work – PWC Report

Supriya Nigam is a lead Content Writer & Digital Marketing Strategist at CareerBuilder India. Her passion for helping people in all aspects of digital marketing flows through in the expert HR Technology industry coverage she provides. Also, an avid Yoga practitioner.

Artificial Intelligence, Big Data and IoT (Internet of Things) are few of many disruptive technologies are creating new business models and industries, and quenching the old ones. Data analytics and social networks are having a huge impact on people management like, how people collaborate, communicate and work. In the new work world, traditional career models may soon be a thing of the past.

Recently, PwC released a report, “The Future of Work – A Journey to 2022”. The study primarily includes scenario analysis that examines the aspirations of the people and expectations of organisations deviating into three work worlds – Blue, Green and Orange.

In this short blog, we will discuss in brief the three types of the work world, their survival, challenge, attractions (what makes them appealing) and the 2022 people management projections.

The Blue Work World

Survival – The Blue world’s business model operates on profit, growth and market leadership that let them survive and thrive in both volatile and stable economic conditions alike.

Challenge – Heavy investments in R&D and acquisition of smaller start-ups to open up new opportunities and need to lead innovations. The hardships in integrating talent from different markets into the overall organisational culture.

The Orange Work World

– Their goal is to minimise the fixed costs and maximise the flexibility.

Survival – The Orange Work World operates on low impact and high tech business model.

Challenge – This world demands an excellent combination of watertight contractual agreements and adequate verification to ensure people being hired genuinely have the expertise claimed or required.

Attractions – Efficient processes and systems are the keys to the success of Orange world. They work on lean staffing model and maximum operational flexibility. They leverage the disruptive technologies like virtual solutions, and telepresence allows for extended global networks and greater remote working.

Future of Orange Work World 2022?

How can they effectively manage contracted staff?

How can they verify the authenticity of data being used to select associates and employees?

The Final Say

Unfortunately, in a PwC survey, most of the respondents (HR professionals) don’t believe they are ready for meeting the needs of a workforce that demand more flexibility, autonomy and freedom. Therefore, having right people, with the right skills in the right places is mandatory to realise the evolving goals of an organization. Planning an effective people management for the long-term is critical.